Tips for Prospective Online Nursing Students

Any type of college degree program that could possibly be molded to fit into an online format, has been. And this includes some nursing degrees, courses and programs.

Study online is convenient for students that really need it: career changers with jobs and family, professional nurses that need CE courses, and even for advanced degreed nurses studying pure academic programs. A few of the obvious advantages to studying nursing online include:

Study whenever it’s convenient

Study from home or wherever you can carry a laptop computer

Many programs are self-paced

Online discussions still keep you in touch with other students and faculty.

But for many of the most popular nursing programs the online environment is not a complete solution. For one thing any nurse taking a vocational, Associates or Bachelors nursing program must have hands-on practical skills training, and most of this takes place in a hospital or other patient care facility—it is not possible online.

Blended Nursing Programs

To even further serve the needs for well-trained nurses many traditional campus-based nursing schools have now created “blended” degree programs. In a blended degree student nurses divide study time between academic or didactic learning, which is served in an online environment, and hands-on clinicals for which they are required to either be on-campus to complete or may be scheduled with a healthcare facility local to them.

Shopping for an Online Nursing School

Some of the most reputable schools of nursing in the nation now have well-established online nursing degrees ranging from standalone courses to masters level specialties. In fact programs like these you can almost be assured are carbon copies of on-campus programs simply tweaked for online teaching. In other words you’re getting the cream of the crop AND the option to study online.

Dozens of other schools specialize exclusively in delivery of top-notch and accredited online nursing degrees and particularly professional specialty courses. University of Phoenix pioneered the field of online study and today offers dozens of ultra-specialized online nursing programs that rival those of many campuses.

Are You Prepared to Study Nursing Online?

Just because a nursing program is offered online doesn’t make it any easier than if you attended on-campus. Truth is that the biggest challenges facing students studying online are:

Carving out the time alone to get study work done

Staying motivated and driven to complete work

Studying from “the convenience of your own home” is not for everyone. If you work a job and have a family you’re likely to be studying late at night, early in the morning, on weekends or even holidays to make sure your school-work gets done. It takes commitment and drive, mettle that many people simply don’t have for the long haul. So consider the pros and cons carefully before you automatically think online is easier and somehow better.